On April 5, Shawmut Design and Construction broke ground on a 41,900-sf expansion and 53,100-sf renovation of Boston University’s Goldman School of Dental Medicine.
The building team that includes Smith Group JJR (design architect, SE, MEP), Compass Project Management (project manager), and Haley Aldrich (geotech engineer), expects to be onsite for 32 months, during which the school—an active building with over 200 students, plus faculty, staff, and thousands of patients per year—will remain open.
This is a common challenge for rehab projects, complicated in this case by a tight urban site and a building with only a 13,000-sf floor plate—“a postage stamp,” says Shawmut’s Vice President Kevin Sullivan—the building team has to work within.
To keep the school open during work, Sullivan says his firm started by “overcommunicating” with shareholders who included the school’s dean, and its directors of facilities and operations.
The Building Team came up with a multi-phase schedule that will work on the basement, first floor, and part of the second floor first; the two additions next; and then renovate the upper floors. Sullivan explains that this schedule allows for floors and utilities to be isolated, which will sometimes require installing temporary systems to avoid operational disruptions. It will also minimize the need to move students and patients around.
A link to download a virtual reality walkthrough video of this project, posted by Shawmut, can be accessed here.
A rendering of an operatory inside Boston University's renovated and expanded dental school. Image: SmithGroupjjr
The isolations will also allow the team to minimize vibration on occupants caused by drilling into concrete to install new façade that lets in more light into the building and blends in with the facades of other buildings in the neighborhood. Because of the tight site space, the Building Team had to close two traffic lanes and move a bus stop.
The expansion will include office, instructional, clinical, and student collaborative spaces on seven existing levels, plus support spaces and a new 140-seat auditorium on the first floor.
The renovation will reconfigure the layout of the patient and student/faculty entry, as well as its clinical, classroom, and student spaces.
All told, the project will increase clinical space by more than 60%, make treatment areas more comfortable and flexible, and provide a student and resident lounge, a café, and collaborative study area on the first floor. With the addition, the school’s floor plate will increase to 18,000 sf.
The project’s completion data is slated for December 2020.
Related Stories
Multifamily Housing | Feb 21, 2023
Multifamily housing investors favoring properties in the Sun Belt
Multifamily housing investors are gravitating toward Sun Belt markets with strong job and population growth, according to new research from Yardi Matrix. Despite a sharp second-half slowdown, last year’s nationwide $187 billion transaction volume was the second-highest annual total ever.
Multifamily Housing | Feb 21, 2023
New multifamily housing and mixed-use buildings in Portland, Ore., must be ready for electric vehicle charging
The Portland, Ore., City Council recently voted unanimously to require all new residential and mixed-use buildings to be ready for electric vehicle charging. The move amends Portland’s zoning laws to require all new multi-dwelling and mixed-use development of five or more units with onsite parking to provide electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
K-12 Schools | Feb 18, 2023
Atlanta suburb opens $85 million serpentine-shaped high school designed by Perkins&Will
In Ellenwood, Ga., a southeast suburb of Atlanta, Perkins and Will has partnered with Clayton County Public Schools and MEJA Construction to create a $85 million secondary school. Morrow High School, which opened in fall 2022, serves more than 2,200 students in Clayton County, a community with students from over 30 countries.
Museums | Feb 17, 2023
First Americans Museum uses design metaphors of natural elements to honor native worldview
First Americans Museum (FAM) in Oklahoma City honors the 39 tribes in Oklahoma today, reflecting their history through design metaphors of nature’s elements of earth, wind, water, and fire. The design concept includes multiple circles suggested by arcs, reflecting the native tradition of a circular worldview that encompasses the cycle of life, the seasons, and the rotation of the earth.
Multifamily Housing | Feb 16, 2023
Coastal Construction Group establishes an attainable multifamily housing division
Coastal Construction Group, one of the largest privately held construction companies in the Southeast, has announced a new division within their multifamily sector that will focus on the need for attainable housing in South Florida.
Senior Living Design | Feb 15, 2023
Passive House affordable senior housing project opens in Boston
Work on Phase Three C of The Anne M. Lynch Homes at Old Colony, a 55-apartment midrise building in Boston that stands out for its use of Passive House design principles, was recently completed. Designed by The Architectural Team (TAT), the four-story structure was informed throughout by Passive House principles and standards.
Contractors | Feb 14, 2023
The average U.S. contractor has nine months worth of construction work in the pipeline
Associated Builders and Contractors reports today that its Construction Backlog Indicator declined 0.2 months to 9.0 in January, according to an ABC member survey conducted Jan. 20 to Feb. 3. The reading is 1.0 month higher than in January 2022.
Contractors | Feb 13, 2023
Webcor names Matt Rossie CEO
Matt Rossie, the President and Chief Operating Officer at San Francisco-based general contractor Webcor, assumed the responsibilities of Chief Executive Officer effective January 1.
Office Buildings | Feb 12, 2023
Smyrna Ready Mix’s new office HQ mimics the patterns in the company’s onsite stone quarry
Designed by EOA Architects to showcase various concrete processes and applications, Smyrna Ready Mix's new office headquarters features vertical layering that mimics the patterns in the company’s stone quarry, located on the opposite end of the campus site. The building’s glass and concrete bands are meant to mirror the quarry’s natural contours and striations.
Multifamily Housing | Feb 10, 2023
Dallas to get a 19-story, 351-unit residential high-rise
In Dallas, work has begun on a new multifamily high-rise called The Oliver. The 19-story, 351-unit apartment building will be located within The Central, a 27-acre mixed-use development near the Knox/Henderson neighborhood north of downtown Dallas.